EN

EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE

EUROPEAN COMMISSION - DIRECTORATE GENERAL

FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION EUROPEAID

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION INSTRUMENT (DCI) 2014-2020

MULTIANNUAL INDICATIVE REGIONAL

PROGRAMME FOR LATIN AMERICA

Development Cooperation Instrument 2014-2020

Multiannual indicative programme for Latin America
INTRODUCTION
The EU's partnership with Latin America is founded on close historical and cultural ties;
extensive people-to-people exchanges; strong and growing trade and investment flows; and a
deep bedrock of shared values and aspirations (commitment to democracy, human rights and
rule of law; pursuit of social cohesion and sustainable development). Over the years, the two
sides have progressively built up a broad-based relationship of equals, founded on mutual
respect and open dialogue. A bi-regional Strategic Partnership, culminating in periodic
Summits, was established in 19991. The EU has concluded an extensive web of association
and other agreements with individual Latin American countries and regional groupings.
EU development cooperation instruments have been - alongside political engagement, trade
and investment, and sectoral dialogues - a crucial building block of this relationship over
the years. During the period 2002-2013, the EU has committed over EUR 4 billion for
programmable development cooperation in Latin America, accompanying and supporting the
region's own successful development efforts. This has also helped to underpin closer
cooperation in many areas (e.g. social cohesion, education, environment and climate change,
trade and small and medium enterprises, migration) and given substance to the wider policy
agenda jointly pursued by the two sides. It has taken place both through bilateral programmes
with individual countries, tailored to their national development agenda, and also through
regional programmes pursued at continental level.
Over this time, Latin America as a region has changed substantially, notably making
important progress in its development efforts. Since 2002, poverty and extreme poverty have
steadily declined in both relative and absolute terms lifting 60 million out of poverty (out of a
total population of 580 million); the middle-classes are rapidly growing and many countries
have now achieved Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC) status. This creates an historic
opportunity for the continent to eradicate poverty, in particular extreme poverty, poverty pockets
and to address the feminisation of poverty. This will require a comprehensive and
multidimensional approach.
The EU will cooperate in support of the region's efforts in line with the European Consensus for
Development, the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) regulation and the EU's Agenda
for Change to eliminate poverty by fostering sustainable and inclusive growth in a context of
respect for human rights, the rule of law democracy and other key elements of good
governance. The Agenda for Change also foresees that EU's development cooperation with
Latin America should be adapted to reflect new realities in the region. With many
countries having achieved UMIC status, aggregate EU bilateral cooperation programmes (i.e.
those pursued at national level) with Latin America will diminish in relative importance for the
next programming period 2014-2020. Bilateral cooperation will of course remain significant in
relation to those countries where the development challenges are greatest and where it could
have greatest impact.
Conversely, the EU's regional programmes for Latin America will remain and be
consolidated. These are the focus of this multiannual indicative programm encompassing two
components. A first component focuses on the initatives to be carried out at continental level,
which are open to all developing countries in the region, including those graduated from the
1

The VII EU-Latin America and Caribbean (EU-LAC) Summit (1st EU-CELAC Summit) took place in Santiago,
Chile, in January 2013. CELAC is the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, commonly known by its
Spanish-language acronym, CELAC, launched in 2011.

bilateral geographic envelope under the DCI. A second component is aimed to support Central
America's efforts to addressing key developmental challenges at sub-regional level.
The present Multiannual indicative programme for Latin America is established in accordance
with the DCI Regulation for 2014-20202 and based on the EU-CELAC Strategic Parnership and
Action Plan.
It comprises the following two components:
COMPONENT 1:

Multiannual indicative programme for continental activities with Latin

America;

COMPONENT 2:

Multiannual indicative programme for sub-regional cooperation with

Central America.

In accordance with the DCI Regulation, the Latin American eligible countries for Component 1
are the following:

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and
Venezuela.

Eligible Latin American countries for the Component 2 are the following:

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

Wherever relevant, the other participating States of CARIFORUM3 will be considered for
eligibility on a case by case basis for actions falling under the continental component of the
Latin America regional programme in accordance with Article 16 of the DCI Regulation.
Collaboration between Latin American and the EU's Outermost Regions will be also considered
on the basis of Article 10 (7) of the DCI Regulation4.
The overall global indicative financial allocation of the Regional Programme for Latin America is
EUR 925 million for the period 2014-2020:
- EUR 805 million for Component 15
- EUR 120 million for Component 2.
A sector breakdown of the financial allocation is specified in each Component of the
programme.

2
3

Regulation (EU) no 233/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing
a financing instrument for development cooperation for the period 2014-2020.
Forum of the Caribbean Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM). It includes
sixteen countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Saint Lucia, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
The importance of strengthening the regional integration of all Outermost Regions in their respective
geographical areas as a key aspect of the EU strategy in these regions for their development is underlined
in the Communication (COM (2012) 287).
Including a contribution of EUR 163 million to the Erasmus+ programme for 2014-2020.

I.

CONTINENTAL PROGRAMME
(Indicative budget EUR 805 million for 2014-2020)

I.1

Political and economic context in Latin America at continental level.

Progress achieved and continuing challenges

Over recent years, the countries of Latin America have collectively enjoyed strong economic
growth and macro-economic stability. Economic progress, in large part due to exports of
natural resources from a region rich in biologidiversity, has translated into a higher profile and
rising influence on global economic issues and in multilateral negotiations e.g. on
climate change and sustainable development. Taken as a whole the region has continued its
progress in consolidating human rights and democracy.
Yet considerable challenges remain and the development gains of many Latin American
countries are fragile:

Despite improvement in some countries, the region remains the most unequal in the
world. Poverty and income distribution trends as well as citizen perceptions of
inequality indicate the need to promote more sustainable and equitable growth
across the region and ask for greater efforts to ensure higher levels of social
cohesion6.

Crime rates are among the highest in the world. State institutions responsible for
ensuring the key public goods of security, justice and rule of law are confronted in many
countries with powerful and well-resourced organised crime interests (engaged in the
drugs trade and other forms of trafficking), as well as high levels of regular crime.
Porous borders are another serious issue. Insecurity in much of the region has
important human, social and economic costs, and diminishes citizen trust in State
institutions, thereby weakening the social contract which is essential for development
to succeed.

Economic growth in Latin America has been heavily based on external demand for
natural resources and commodities. A number of structural weaknesses may impede
higher, more inclusive economic growth in the coming years. These include lack of
diversification, need for more sustainable use of natural resources, difficult access to
innovation, limited job creation, bottlenecks as regards systems for skills and training,
and the lack of competitiveness and informality affecting many Micro, Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in the region, and the need for open markets and
an investment-conducive environment.

To create opportunities for youth, address gender issues, increase the offer of quality
jobs and promote decent work are of particular relevance to ensure greater social
inclusion in the continent. Moreover, to strengthen territorial integration by reducing
socio-economic dipartites between the urban, rural and the more remote areas is also a
key challenge.

Reconciling environmental sustainability with economic growth is a major challenge in

Latin America. The region is highly vulnerable to climate change and to natural
disasters due to its geography, distribution of population and infrastructure, as well as
to economic reliance on fragile natural resources. While one of the major assets for the
Despite the reduction in the average Gini index during in recent years (from 0.54 a decade ago to 0.5 in
2012) Latin America is still an extremely unequal region compared to, for instance, OECD countries where
the average Gini index is 0.32. In fact, 167 million people still live in poverty in the region, 66 million of them
being in extreme poverty or indigence.

region is its enormous variety of ecosystems and high level of biodiversity, its
environment is being heavily affected by issues such as biodiversity loss, deforestation,
land degradation, water pollution, with direct consequences particularly for the poorest
segments of the society. These challenges are exacerbated by unplanned growth of
urban areas (currently home to 80% of the region's population), inequality, and the
particularly high vulnerability to climate change and environmental degradation of rural
areas (where a third of the poor population of the continent lives). At the same time,
Latin America offers many opportunities for low-emission, climate resilient and
environmentally sustainable investment, for example in the areas of renewable energy
and energy efficiency.
-

Latin America is also seeking to step up efforts on governance, because it is

essential to restore the confidence of citizens in state institutions, on promotion
and protection of human rights, gender issues and opportunities for young
people). There is a mounting demand for quality democracy and for more accountable
institutions with better capacity to represent and deliver within a rules-based
constitutional framework.

None of the above challenges can be properly addressed without sufficient public
resources. Efforts to improve service delivery capacity and drive forward structural
reforms in the region are hindered by the low proportion of GDP taken as tax, with an
average tax burden for the region around below 18%. Furthermore, tax systems are
very regressive with a high reliance on indirect taxes, low taxes on personal income and
a narrow tax base. Citizens trust in the quality of public services is generally low. Latin
American countries are in a process of modernisation to meet growing demands by their
citizens to deliver more and better services. Achieving greater fiscal equity, and
strengthening the capacity and efficiency of the public administration, in terms of both
tax revenue and expenditure, including the necessary reforms of public finance
management systems, is crucial to tackle inequality, to increase levels of social
cohesion and to respond to growing social demand for quality public services. There is
also a growing demand for increased citizen participation in monitoring public planning
and expenditure, especially at local level.

I.2

The EU regional cooperation response and added-value

In the face of these challenges, the EU should aim through its regional programmes for Latin
America at supporting national and bilateral development efforts by working in the following
priority areas:

The security-development nexus

Good governance, accountability and social equity

Inclusive and sustainable growth for human development

Environmental sustainability and climate change

Supporting Higher Education (HE) in Latin America is also a long-standing objective of the
EU-LAC bi-regional partnership to provide the region with the knowledge and skills for
addressing continued developmental needs in the region. Cooperation under this strand will be
fully integrated into the Erasmus+ programme for 2014-2020.
An important common thread running through these proposed priorities is support for the
promotion of Social cohesion. This is a concept to which all the region's governments from
across the political spectrum, as well as most sectors of civil society, are highly attached. It has
been a leitmotif of the EU's bi-regional relationship with Latin America endorsed at the highest
4

political level, since the 3rd EU-LAC summit, held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May 2004. Social
cohesion will be addressed in all priority areas in an integrated way and specific socialchoesion targets will be defined during the implementation phase.
These responses to Latin America's continued development challenges would be in line with
the European Consensus for Development and with the priorities identified by the DCI
regulation. The Agenda for Change also identifies the promotion of sustainable and inclusive
growth - and of human rights, democracy and other key elements of good governance - as the
main priorities of future EU Development policy.
The continental nature of the challenges faced, and of the responses required, is widely
recognised in the region. This is also reflected in the EU-LAC dialogue at the highest political
level (as illustrated in outcomes of the EU-CELAC7 Summit, January 2013). This expression of
ownership and political will on the part of all the countries of the region is an asset for the
purposes of implementing EU cooperation responses at continental level.
Continental-level cooperation and integration initiatives under this programme will complement
national and sub-regional efforts8 to tackle these challenges effectively and sustainably with
the ultimate goal to eradicate poverty. To this end, they could assist in promoting international
standards and good practices. They could also serve to foster continent-wide mechanisms for
cooperation and dialogue.
Evaluations of current (2007-13) continental programmes in Latin America9 have
consistently shown their value, particularly in terms of improving capacities of local
counterparts, access to services, evidence-based changes in policies and regulations.
Programmes have also earned credibility with political and social leaders, with scaling-up of
results achieved and strong links with continuity plans by partner governments. Current
regional programmes have focused to an important extent on knowledge-transfer and peer
learning (between the EU and Latin American countries; but also among Latin American
countries). Such an approach is relevant for addressing the different development needs of
all countries in the region, in particular poverty reduction It allows ample scope for SouthSouth cooperation, and for fostering regionally-owned solutions to regional challenges.
The EU should build on this experience, in light of the new regional context and policy
framework.
Future regional cooperation should focus on actions for which a regional approach to the
design and delivery of EU cooperation clearly demonstrates added value (e.g. challenges
common to several or all countries in the region, and/or relating to cross-border phenomena, in
order to foster shared solutions and ownership on the part of the countries of the region
working closely in a common solution oriented approach). Another aspect of this added-value
is directly or indirectly contributing to the strengthening of regional integration (and also of
regional cooperation in a broader sense). In many respects, the challenges described above
which are key for the achievement of the development assistance goals of the Agenda for
Change and coherent with overall EU policies are indeed most effectively addressed at
7
8
9

The EU's 7th bi-regional summit with Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Chile in January 2013, was
the first at which the LAC countries were grouped under the CELAC banner.
Inter alia programmes implemented by Central American Integration System (SICA in Spanish).
EU-LA regional cooperation during 2007-13 encompassed a large varieties of sectors including social
cohesion (EUROsociAL), climate change (EuroCLIMA), small and medium-size entreprises promotion and
private sector development (AL-INVEST IV), higher education (ALFA III and ALBAN), support to local
authorities (URB-AL), information society (@lis), investments (LAIF), water management (RALCEA),
migration ("targeted project"), drugs policies (COPOLAD). Some of these initiatives are the continuation of
previous EC programmes aiming to develop relations between actors of the two regions, including the civil
society.

regional level. Regional programmes should therefore continue to play a significant role
in the overall EU relations with Latin America over the 2014-2020 period.
The EUs future regional cooperation in Latin America should also take into account the
existing agreements, whether Association Agreements, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or
other signed or under negotiation with groups of countries in the region. Regional programmes
need to be tools to strengthen the capacity of the region to implement, and benefit from, these
agreements, and to support ongoing negotiations. Similarly, other EU political commitments
with the region also need to continue to be duly taken into account, in particular those
stemming from the EU-LAC Summit process. The Declaration and Action Plan adopted in this
framework constitute a jointly agreed strategy between the two sides.
Although EU cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean is governed by two separate
legal frameworks and therefore programmed separately, the EU's interlocutor for the region-toregion dialogue is Latin America and the Caribbean together. This reflects the strong
geographical, economic, political and cultural ties existing between Latin America and
the Caribbean.

I.3

EU support per sector

3.1

Security - development nexus Indicative allocation EUR 70 million

General objective:
To reinforce the capacity of states to effectively ensure security conditions conducive for
inclusive development.
Specific objectives:
Support the capacity of states and communities to:
Deliver effective and accountable security and justice services to their citizens,
strengthening the rule of law, including through support to reforms in the justice and
security sector and to crime prevention policies;
Develop integrated, balanced and human rights-based national drug policies covering
both drug demand and supply reduction efforts in line with the principle of
coresponsability; and,
Promote sound migration management through facilitation of labour migration,
strengthening migrants rights, control of irregular migration and promotion of the
positive linkages between migration and development.
Lines of action:

Support for regional reform efforts, mutual learning and regional benchmarking in the
field of integrated and Justice and Security-Sector Reform (JSSR), respecting human
rights principles.

Support for regional reform efforts, mutual learning and regional benchmarking in the
field of drugs policies, particularly with respect to their coherence, balance and impact,
including statistical information on crime and criminal justice .

Support for regional reform efforts, mutual learning and regional coordination and
cooperation in the field of migration and border management.

Expected results:
Public security and fight against organised crime:

Improved legal framework and service delivery capacity of the criminal justice system
and police.

Increased capacity to monitor crime trends and to formulate balanced and evidencebased national security strategies.

Reduced impact of illicit trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other organised
crime activities.

Drugs:

Increased capacity to monitor drug issues, and to formulate integrated, balanced and
evidence-based drug policies at national levels;

Reduced drug production, reduced demand and harm of drugs and reduced levels of
drug trafficking; strengthened action against illicit financial flows and money laundering
deriving from drug trafficking, increased control of precursors, enhanced police
cooperation and overall law enforcement institutional strengthening10. Strengthened EUCELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on drugs.

Improved management of migration and borders

Increased knowledge and capacities to monitor migration flows, to manage labour

migration while ensuring improved protection of migrants' rights, as well as to formulate
balanced and evidence-based migration policies at national level;

Increased knowledge and capacities to reduce flows and negative impact of irregular
migration and trafficking in human beings and increased positive effects between
migration, mobility and development; and,

Increased knowledge and capacities to formulate and implement policies in the area of
integrated border management, particular to reduce illicit activities.

Cross-cutting issues:

Human rights protection, in particular of vulnerable populations, and enhanced

adherence to relevant international mechanisms.

Gender equality and elimination of gender-related violence.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in the annex.
3.2

Good governance, accountability and social equity - Indicative allocation EUR 42

million.

General objective:
Reinforce the accountability and capacity of institutions and public administrations to provide
high quality public services.
Specific objectives:
To support fiscal and public finance management reforms and their implementation as
a basis for the state to provide high quality public services for social equity.
To improve the capacity of public administrations to provide public services in a
transparent and accountable manner, including in border and peripheral regions.
10

Through continuation of existing Cocaine Route components PRELAC, GAFISUD and AMERIPOL currently
financed under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace for 2007-13.

 To strengthen the legitimacy, transparency and accountability of democratic institutions.

Lines of action:

Support for regional reform efforts, peer learning in the field of fiscal equity and
management of public finances, in particular revenue collection (i.e. identifying key
drivers of refom to achieve efficient, equitable and transparent tax systems).

Support to long term strategic planning, definition of public policies for the reduction of
social inequalities and quality of social expenditure in public administration (measuring
social impacts of public policies, decentralisation, equality in public expenditures,etc).

Support the functioning of accountable and democratic institutions so as to reinforce

their legitimacy[and fight against corruption. This could include policy support, peer
learning, regional benchmarking and exchange of best practices, as well as statistical
support for evidence-based decision making

Expected Results:

Fairer and more transparent fiscal and public finance management systems with more
efficient revenue systems

Improved governance and quality of social spending, with better regard, inter alia, to
gender equality and protection of marginalised groups.

Consolidated state institutions according to democratic values and rules-based

constitutional frameworks.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in the annex.
3.3

Inclusive and sustainable growth for human development

Indicative allocation EUR 215 million

General objective:
Poverty reduction through more inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Latin America.
Specific objectives:
Improve the policy framework for business, trade and investment, promote economic
diversification, sustainable use of natural resources, and low-emission11 and improve
integration of national economies into regional and international markets with a focus on
micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs).
Increase the competitiveness of the private sector and the proportion of economic
actors in the formal economy, particularly for MSMEs, increasing job opportunities and
decent work, including in environment-related sectors to increase social cohesion.
Improve the quality of technical education and employability by better linking vocational
education and training to the demands of the labour market, and promote decent work.
Promote low-emission, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable investments.
Lines of action:

Activities involving business membership organisations (BMOs) - such as chambers,

associations or cooperatives - which are well-placed to respond to the actual needs and

11

In this document the term "low-emission" is used as a synonym for "low greenhouse gas emission" (economy,
technology, investment, etc.).

demands of MSMEs; and, where relevant, also with public-sector bodies; policy
support on questions like investment, regulatory and business environment, innovation,
corporate social responsibility, social and environmental sustainability, ecoentrepeneurship, etc. In order to reduce informality and social exclusion the EU will
work with BMOs to support informal MSME capacity development and with public
authorities in the exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing on public policies.

Activities focusing on trade facilitation, intra-regional and international trade,

including implementation of trade agreements and support to ongoing negotiations,
going beyond border management and customs, to cover also legal and regulatory
adjustments, in all relevant areas, for example, customs, standards, intellectual property
rights, and trade and sustainable development provisions. It will be of utmost
importance to ensure private-sector participation, although primary counterparts of the
actions envisioned under this component would be public administrations at national
and regional level. Activities should address the overall enabling environment and/or
specific value chains especially those with links to the European market, including for
investments in low-emission technologies; support should take account of other relevant
initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Strengthening and integrating vocational education and training (VET) into national
education systems, according to regional development priorities, thereby strengthening
both competitiveness and social inclusion. This could encompass strategies on how to
effectively link VET to the labour market for both the formal and informal sector, where
possible with inclusion of social partners, as well as on how to promote decent work .
Specific attention should be given to improving insertion of disadvantaged groups and
minorities in the labour market.

Attention should also be given to the economic empowerment of women and young
people, and their participation in remunerated activities.

Initiatives in this field will be directed to increase social cohesion taking into account
territorial inqualities and disparities.

These initiatives will be complemented by innovative financing mechanisms and instruments

such as blending.
Expected results:

Latin American MSME are more competitive on international markets.

Enhanced business enviroment and policy framework, in particular for MSMEs.

Increased diversification of the economy, in particular MSMEs, including by making use

of the opportunities offered by low-emission, climate resilient and environmentally
sustainable investments.

Skills and employability of labour force strengthened through pertinent VET

programmes.

Improved capacity to harness the benefits of regional and international trade and
investment, both in terms of effective implementation and of negotiations.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in annex.
3.4

Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change

Indicative allocation EUR 300 million

General objective:

Reduce poverty of most vulnerable populations by fostering environmentally sustainable

development and improving the capacity to cope with climate change and disasters.

Specific objectives:
Foster exchange and cooperation on environmental and climate change-related
challenges in order to promote sustainable management of natural resources and
ecosystems and integrate sustainable development policies at national and local level.
Strengthen regional networks to create knowledge and to share experience, through
inter alia, peer learning and exchanges of best practices.
Reinforce the capacity of LA countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change in
particular by seeking to reduce the vulnerability to climate stress and improving disaster
risk management.
Lines of action

Support exchanges of information and expertise so as to promote mutual learning and

the development of networks of expertise to enable a better understanding of
phenomena related to climate change and environment and a stronger response with
regards to the socio-economic and environmental challenges of development.

Activities to promote sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems

and support the integration of climate change and environmental protection into
sustainable development policies, with particular regard to the sustainability of cities, the
use of renewable energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the
sustainable management of natural resources, fisheries and marine environment.

Actions to reinforcing the capacity of LA to mitigate and to adapt to climate change,

including by reducing vulnerability to climate stress, scaling-up of climate-smart
practices to diminish Green House Gas emissions, strengthening production of
environmental statistics and accounts, improving governance of natural resources,
improving disaster risk management and sustainable management of natural resources
and ecosystems, in particular water, forests and agriculture, and sustainable
development of highly-populated areas.

Initiatives in this field will be directed to increase social cohesion taking into account
territorial inqualities and disparities.

These initiatives will be complemented by innovative financing mechanisms through blending

initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change and promote biodiversity conservation. They
will also take into account the commitments taken in the context of the EU-CELAC partnership,
as well as in relevant multilateral processes including the CBD12 and UNFCCC13 negotiation
process.
Expected results:

12
13

Development in Latin America becomes more climate-resilient and environmentally

sustainable in particular to the benefit of the most vulnerable populations;

Sustainable development public policies are strengthened, taking biodiversity,

ecosystems and disaster risk management into account, resulting in low-emission,
climate resilient and environmentally sustainable investments, higher territorial cohesion
and reduced vulnerability.

CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity; Change

UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

10

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in the annex.
3.5

Higher education exchanges and cooperation

Indicative allocation EUR 163 million

General objective:
Promote higher education exchanges and cooperation between the EU and Latin America.
Specific objectives:
Support learning mobility for staff and students of higher education institutions;
Enhance cooperation for innovation and the exchange of EU-LA good practices. Focus
activities: strategic partnerships and knowledge alliances.
Lines of Action (under the Erasmus + programme for 2014-2020):

Support to learning mobility for individuals. Focus activities: staff and student mobility.

Enhance cooperation for innovation and the exchange of EU-LA good practices. Focus
activities: strategic partnerships and knowledge alliances.

Expected results:

Higher mobility of higher education institutions (HEI) staff and students.

Enhanced excellence in teaching and quality of HEI, through more innovative and
successful teaching/learning methods.

Enhanced skills and qualifications of students in the context of a global society.

Mobility accomplished within joint high-quality study programmes (Joint Degrees)

implemented by EU and non-EU universities.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in the annex.

I.4.

Anticipated modes of delivery

Direct management with final recipient;

Indirect management with Member States, International Organisations or Latin

American countries;

Main contractual vehicles to be used are grant or procurement contracts. There will also
be use of financing agreements and Indirect Management Delegation Agreements;

The Commission will strive to coordinate and include wherever possible Member State
agencies in joint actions.

Blending, based on the experience of the facility for Latin America (LAIF), will be a
major mechanism of implementation in particular for supporting investments
complementing the above mentioned objectives, and clearly linked to the overall EU
objectives and policy priorities in the region. Innovative investment operations and pilot
initiatives could also be supported.

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I.5

Complementarity

In the field of security, the continental programme proposed would be complementary to the
actions for institutional strengthening in this field envisaged in particular under the sub-regional
programme for Central America component, the EDF regional programme for the Caribbean
and the bilateral programmes (e.g. youth and violence prevention in El Salvador, conflict and
violence in Guatemala; strengthen the rule of law in Honduras; support to the justice reform and
fight against illicit drugs in Bolivia; developmentsecurity-nexus in Jamaica). Indeed, the often
continental and cross-border nature of many of the related challenges cannot be sufficiently
tackled only at the lower levels, but needs to be complemented through relevant interventions
at continental level with a view to promoting international standards and best practices in
human rights and fight against crime, as well as fostering continent-wide mechanisms for
cooperation and policy dialogue in the areas of drugs, migration and security.
The definition and implementation of actions in support of trade will aim at reinforcing the
synergies with the bilateral programmes (for example, El Salvador: private-sector development;
Guatemala: competitiveness, Honduras: employment, and forestry/FLEGT, etc). This will also
be the case for the implementation of Central America Association Agreement.
For environmental sustainability and climate change, the continental programme will focus on
long-term measures and will be coordinated with the bilateral programmes in the more fragile
states of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the programmes for each of the three
sub-regions under the DCI and/or the EDF. These will complement the continental objectives
by focusing on specific areas of fragility (like natural disasters such as climate change and
vulnerability in Nicaragua, water in Bolivia, Sea Defence/Coastal Management in Guyana,
Environment in Jamaica). Synergies will also be sought i.a. with disaster risk reduction
measures implemented by the European Commission through DIPECHO14 action plans and
drought resilience initiatives15.
Synergies will also be pursued under DCI thematic programmes, the Partnership Instrument
(PI), particularly as regards economic and trade/related programmes as well as initiatives in the
area of sustainable inclusive development, and with the activities carried out by the EU-LAC
Foundation.
Complementarity of this programme with other EU thematic instruments and programmes, such
as the DCI Global Public Goods and Challenges, Civil Society Organisations/Local Authorities,
the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and the Instrument
contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) will be ensured.
This continental component will be complemented by a sub-regional component for Central
America that will create important synergies in the areas of security-development nexus,
inclusive and sustainable growth and environmental sustainability and vulnerability.
The EU response for this component may be complemented by operations financed by the
European Investment Bank (EIB).

14

DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness ECHO) dedicated to disaster preparedness.

Resilience building is an overarching goal as outlined in the European Commission's Communication on
Resilience (COM (2012)586 final and SWD (2013)227 final). Resilience strategies should contribute to different
policies, in particular Food Security, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
15

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II.

SUB-REGIONAL PROGRAMME FOR CENTRAL AMERICA

(Indicative budget EUR 120 million for 2014-2020)

II.1

Political and economic context in Central America. Progress achieved and

continuing challenges

The peace processes which took place after a long period of civil wars and military rule in the
80s, contributed to positively transform the political scenario in Central America. This opened
new opportunities for democratic consolidation, non-violent resolution of conflicts and regional
cooperation. Today the region is broadly stable and democracies are in place in all countries.
However, challenges still remain regarding the rule of law, good governance, security, and
human rights.
Half of the Central American population lives in poverty, which remains widespread among
indigenous populations, and in rural areas in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and
Nicaragua. Despite progress in the last years in educational coverage or life expectancy and
infant mortality rates, infant rural malnutrition is still very high (around 35%) among children
under the age of 5.
With significant divergences among countries, state institutions remain generally weak, and
lack the resources to guarantee the full enjoyment of human rights and implement
comprehensive social policies. Violence and crime rates are amongst the worst in the world in
the Northern triangle (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) as a consequence of persistent
social inequalities, high levels of impunity and organised crime linked to drug trafficking.
Central America is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to natural disasters and climate
change. Its geographical location makes it particularly prone to volcanic, seismic and
meteorological hazards.
The region is one of the most unequal in the world, and in some cases inequality has even
risen during the last decade. With a big demographic bonus (Central American population
increased by more than 20% between 2000 and 2010), a more sustainable and equitable
growth model is needed to ensure political inclusiveness, social cohesion and economic
sustainability in the longer term.
The integration has made notable progress in some areas, such as intraregional trade with the
aim to achieve a customs union, free movement of citizens through the Agreement between
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, the establishment of a Regional Security
Strategy to complement and coordinate national public policies, the development of a regional
common process for the procurement of medicines, or the approval of a Regional Strategy on
Climate Change.
On the contrary, political integration does not show the same picture: the existence of bilateral
territorial disputes between some countries which flare up from time to time, the diverging views
on the direction the integration process should take, the intra-regional socio- economic
disparities, and the longstanding presence of institutional shortcomings and deficiencies have a
limiting effect on progress.
Central American countries have managed quite well to resist the global financial crisis, with an
average growth of 4.6 % for the period 2011-13, a figure which masks huge disparities between
countries. Although the economies have been presenting positive growth rates in the last years,
neither the rate of growth nor the distribution of its benefits enabled to tackle the poverty and
inequality. Highly unequal distribution of wealth and income, and limited provision of essential
social services result in low levels of social cohesion. Macroeconomic constraints are
reinforced by weak tax collection (around 15% of GDP), and widespread tax evasion. This
leads to a vicious circle of poverty, the search for alternative options for survival (migration,
criminality, etc.), and social conflict.

13

In recent years, the Central America integration process has reached a turning point: de facto
integration is going faster than the formal integration. In the past, national governments were
the motor of the process; now the increasing involvement of private sector and other civil
society groups is making integration almost irreversible. A challenge will be the completion of
all legal and formal conditions for the full accession of the Dominican Republic to the Central
America Integration System (SICA).
The region's current priorities set out in the Action Plans agreed by the Presidents of Central
America are: climate change and disaster risk management, regional security, social
integration, economic integration and institutional strengthening. A deeper involvement of civil
society in the integration process is key and more work needs to be done on this front.
In this regional environment, the EU has displayed a continuous commitment to strengthen its
relations with the region. The EU remains the main donor of regional cooperation and
integration, the region's second largest trading partner and one of the largest foreign investors.
Much of the EU influence in the region stems from its substantial and well-designed cooperation in key sectors which have been useful tools to push forward the Central American
integration process. The relation between EU and Central America has been shaped by the
San Jose Dialogue, launched in 1984 to establish a channel for political dialogue between the
two regions, originally set up to support the peace process and democracy in the region. It was
confirmed and expanded to include other issues such as economic and social development.
The regional Development Cooperation Framework Agreement signed between the six Central
American countries and the Commission in 1993, came into effect in 1999. This agreement
covers a broad range of co-operation sectors and foresees the establishment of a Joint
Committee to oversee its implementation as well as sub-committees for detailed examination of
specific sectors of the Agreement. In December 2003, a new Political Dialogue and
Cooperation Agreement was signed by the EU and Central America institutionalising the San
Jose Dialogue and expanding cooperation to include new areas such as migration and counterterrorism.
In June 2012 the first region-to-region Association Agreement was concluded by the EU with 6
Central American countries: Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and
Panama. The agreement is based on three pillars political dialogue, cooperation and trade.
The trade pillar of this agreement is implemented since December 2013, introducing gradual
free trade between the two regions, stimulating growth and sustainable economic relations,
fostering economic and social development, promoting an environmental dimension, as well as
modernization and technological innovation. The EU-CA AA has acted as a catalyst of progress
on economic integration and trade, mainly driven by the private sector. This has led to positive
outcomes like the accession of Panama to the Secretara de Integracin Econmica
Centroamericana SIECA, the economic integration body.
The completion of the AA ratification process by the EU Member States will activate the political
dialogue and cooperation pillars, thus reinforcing the traditional ties. The agreement will provide
the framework and commitment to work jointly to address the challenges the region is facing,
promoting a path to sustainable development and social progress, enhancing the capacities to
deliver public services, including security, giving a boost to regional integration, consolidating
democracy, and addressing the vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change in Central
America.
The relation between the EU and Central America has been further strengthened with the
observer status of SICA granted to the European Union in 2013.

14

II.2 Analysis of problems and choice of sectors

The SICA's Action Plans set and formulate priorities allowing to draft a proper EU response
strategy, In line with these plans, the three focal sectors proposed for the period 2014-2020 are
those where the EU can bring about more added-value:

support to the regional economic integration, including commitments undertaken in this

area when subscribing the EU-CA AA,

support to the Regional Security Strategy,

support to the Regional Climate Change Strategy and the Central American Policy on
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management

For the first priority sector, regional economic integration, the region relies today on
commodity exports, remittances and tourism, and imports energy, what makes the region highly
vulnerable to external factors. The main challenge is to advance in the process of economic
integration with the creation of a Central American market for goods and services. This is
essential to provide the open but small Central American economies with a sufficiently large
market (more than 40 million people and USD 200 billion combined GDP) to attract investments
and compete internationally, diminishing their exposure to external shocks.
The creation of a genuine regional market with more integrated productive chains across the
region is essential for the generation of employment and growth by the private sector. Besides
the establishment of a customs union and the progressive harmonisation of regulations, it is
particularly important in this endeavour, to strengthen the productivity and competitiveness of
the private sector, particularly of MSMEs and cooperatives. Promoting pro-poor growth by
private sector development will be critical in achieving a sustainable trajectory out of poverty
and meeting the Millennium Development Goals, specially the target of halving the proportion
of people living on less than one dollar a day. This represents an opportunity to contribute to
the region's transition to a green economy.
The conclusion of the EU-CA AA and the application of its trade pillar constitute a strong
incentive, as Central American countries have to deal as a block with one of its main trading
partners. It provides an opportunity to invigorate trade both at intra-regional and trans-regional
level. The capacity of the CA region to implement and to benefit from the Agreement requires
strengthening of the regulatory environment in order to achieve higher levels of integration,
including the full establishment of a regional customs union.
Through the economic integration process, coordinated by SIECA, different mechanisms and
reforms are foreseen in order to make the economies less vulnerable by boosting
competitiveness and diversification.
Promoting the development of regional-wide regulation in some strategic areas, fostering trade
and investment, and improving productive and administrative capacities, are three important
challenges where the regional dimension has a clear added value.
Security and the rule of law currently represents, for the countries concerned in Central
America, a persistent threat to their economic growth, development and political stability. The
EU envisages to continue promoting a comprehensive and balanced approach to security
issues in Central America. Addressing the security-development nexus has been identified
by the Development and Cooperation Instrument as a specific area of cooperation in the
region.
Approximately EUR 153 million have been devoted to security and justice related programmes
both at regional and bilateral level for the period 2007-2013, focused on three complementary
components (support to police and forensic institutions, strengthening of justice systems and
support of social cohesion through prevention activities dedicated, in particular to youths).
15

The EU CA program second focal sector for 2014-20, security and rule of law, will be
implemented in a context of several challenges that need to be addressed by the region. With
homicide rates that are among the highest in the world, crime and violence threaten Central
America citizens' security, hitting particularly the poor and the youth, especially in the Northern
triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala). This results in huge social, economic, and
institutional costs, and detracts public funding, thus undermining poverty reduction and
development efforts. The World Bank has estimated the costs of insecurity in Central America,
including citizen security law enforcement and health care, at close to 8 percent of sub-regional
GDP, and suggests that a 10 percent reduction in the violence levels in the Northern Triangle
could increase annual GDP per capita by as much as one percent.
The source of violence does not rest only on drug trafficking, although a sizeable part of it is
linked to competition between organised crime groups. Reinforced by the lack of
comprehensive policies and the scarcity of decent job opportunities, violence is further fuelled
in the Northern countries.
Drug trafficking is particularly lucrative, where Central America has become the operational
playground of transnational organised crime moving around drugs. At the same time, a whole
range of other activities complement and sustain the presence of these groups, such as human
and arms trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and large scale money laundering. The dominance
of youth gangs, particularly in urban areas, has further pushed up the crime numbers over the
last decade. Within this culture of violence, attacks against vulnerable groups like women or
migrants, including an ever growing proportion of minors, are of a particular concern.
This context is furthermore defined by high levels of impunity. Low investigative and
prosecutorial capacities are an important factor in this. Overcrowded and ineffective prison
systems continue to raise significant human rights concerns, far from being pathways to
reinsertion. Corruption and infiltration by organised crime throughout the security and justice
apparatus further hampers the effectiveness of citizen security policies and can cause human
rights violations.
The impact of violent crime on the economy and society as a whole is exacerbated by the
state's limited capacity to deliver public services to the population. As a result, in some
countries organised crime and gangs are locally embedded. Consequently, public institutions in
security and justice enjoy low levels of legitimacy and often citizens search for alternative
methods of procuring security privately.
Central American governments, aware of the gravity of the situation and its impact in the
access to global public goods, have acknowledged that the transnational nature of these
problems cannot be tackled at national level alone but need to be complemented by a regional
approach. In 2011 the Heads of State and government of SICA adopted the Central American
Security Strategy (ESCA) which was also endorsed by the international community. The
Strategy is based on four pillars (law enforcement; violence prevention; rehabilitation,
reintegration and prison management; institutional strengthening) and fourteen priorities that
were converted into project profiles. Under the 2007-2013 CSP, the EU has already provided
significant resources for the implementation of the ESCA.
Nevertheless, overall funding allocated to these objectives has been lagging behind; not only
international partners of the region but also the affected countries themselves ought to step up
their efforts. Public security will remain one of the most demanded needs in Central America for
the next decade. The ESCA will keep on being the principal framework for future cooperation
efforts. The EU participates in the so-called Group of Friends for Security in Central America,
initially a donor coordination mechanism, but with a strong political component, aimed at
supporting SICA and its member countries in implementing the ESCA.
The third focal sector of the EU CA cooperation program for the next years targets climate
change and disaster management.
16

The region is particularly vulnerable to climate change and is increasingly hit by serious
meteorological events that produce severe damages in terms of human casualties and
economic losses; its location in a seismic area aggravates its vulnerability.
Central America stretches quite thin between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, with
mountain chains that determine the precipitation patterns; it is characterized largely by humid,
tropical conditions while extensive areas (e.g. in the so-called Dry Corridor running through the
six Central American countries) are subject to alternate drought and floods. Studies16 show the
region is being, and will be, impacted at a greater frequency and intensity by extreme climate
phenomena; this entails more droughts on the one hand, and higher chances of flooding from
tropical storms and hurricanes on the other.
These variations reinforce the loss of forest ecosystems and coastal/marine resources which
are the basis for economic activity, representing a major proportion of income and employment.
Apart from the negative impact on the main economic activities, they have a negative effect on
food security and the vulnerability of human settlements. Pressure on the regions natural
resources is further exacerbated by several other factors, such as: continued population
growth, the absence of territorial/spatial planning policies, urban expansion, internal
immigration due to poverty, unregulated productive activities and changing habitats. For
instance, agriculture is both an important sector for large scale producers and of scarce
livelihoods for subsistence farmers and daily labourers.
Central Americas annual deforestation equals some 350,000 hectares; the region lost 1.2
million hectares of forest in recent years although the rate of deforestation is decreasing. For
this purpose, complementarities will be sought with the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance
and Trade (FLEGT) at a regional level. According to the U.S. Country Studies Program
(USCSP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), seasonal climate variability has provoked
a series of negative effects: animal and plant diseases, irreversible loss and degradation of
habitats and biodiversity, damage to ecosystems endangering the livelihoods of subsistence
farmers, chronic malnutrition, vector-borne infectious diseases, saltwater intrusion and
infrastructure damage.
According to the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE), in 2005 the regions residential
sector consumed the highest amount of energy (43%), of which 83% came from firewood,
directly influencing sustainable production since most deforestation is attributable to logging for
firewood. In 2012 the regions installed electricity generation capacity was approximately
12,452 MW, of which 64.9% corresponded to renewable energy sources.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation together with disaster risk management have started
to become one of the regional priorities since in the period 2000-09, meteorological disasters
doubled compared to the period 1990-99. In addition, 35% of the region's river basins are
shared between two or more countries and represent almost half of the protected areas in the
isthmus. A good management of ecosystems is required in order to increase resilience and
support mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Leaders of the affected countries have
realized the trans-boundary aspect of the problematic and started to work on a regional
approach in order to join efforts.
In 2010, the SICA member countries approved the first Regional Strategy on Climate Change
(RSCC)17, reflecting a shared regional vision how to face the challenges of climate change and
its impact. This is complemented with the Central American Policy on Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Management approved also in 201018. Both the strategy and the policy spell out the main
problems and provide orientation for actions to be taken in the following years, with a strong
focus on improved natural resources and ecosystem management to achieve mitigation
objectives, promote adaptation in key sectors such as agriculture, forestry, land-use and water,
16

Such as the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on http://ipcc.ch/

http://www.sica.int/busqueda/secciones.aspx?IdItem=55544&IdCat=48&IdEnt=879
18
http://www.sica.int/cepredenac/pcgir.aspx
17

17

and increase resilience to extreme climate events. These policies have been converted into
action plans, however, increased commitment, both at regional and national level, and
adequate resources are required.
Even though each of the three focal sectors of the EU cooperation program is facing different
problems, all of them share the need of taking into account vulnerabilities of specific groups
and of integrating a Gender, Human Rights, and an environmental approach.

II.3

EU support per sector

3.1

Regional economic integration

Indicative allocation EUR 40 million

General objective:
Contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth in Central America through an improved regional
economic integration.
Specific objectives:
Reducing the regional constraints to competitiveness, diversification and investments in
Central America including by supporting regional institutions' (namely SIECA) economic
integration processes and reforms.
Maximising the benefits for Central America's population of the implementation of the
economic components of the EU-CA Association Agreement.
Lines of action:

Supporting the harmonization and implementation of public policies, regulations,

standards and statistics.

Improving capacity for intra and extra-regional trade and investment development and
exports promotion, with a focus on MSMEs.

Supporting measures to improve trade related infrastructure for regional integration.

Building productive capacities and sustainable value chains in the region, and ensuring
that trade policies and labour and environmental policies are mutually supportive.

Possible expected results:

Policy and regulation:

Increased economic and regulatory convergence in fields like customs, sanitary and
phyto-sanitary measures, technical regulations, and others prioritised as per common
agreement in view of maximizing the benefits for Central American countries as a result
of the AA implementation.

Improved trade-related labour and environment compliance, in line with international

commitments and the AA

Enhanced institutional capacity of regional authorities such as SICA system, think tanks,
research institutes, and other organisations for sustainable regional economic
integration policy formulation and implementation.

Investment and export promotion:

Investment and export promotion initiatives supported both from intra-regional and EUCentral America perspectives, with a special focus on MSMEs.

Building productive capacities and sustainable value chains in the region:

18

A more integrated regional market through sustainable value chains, in particular of

MSMEs and cooperatives of increased productivity and competitiveness; as well as
increased and more diversified export opportunities, allowing CA countries to fully
benefit from the AA implementation.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in Annex.
3.2.

Security and rule of law

Indicative allocation EUR 40 million

General objective:
To contribute to the reduction of violent crime and impunity, whilst respecting human rights and
promoting a culture of peace.
Specific objectives:
Reinforce the capacity of the region to decrease transnational crime.
Improve capacities to deliver effective and accountable security and justice services to
the population.
Lines of action:
Aligning with the first three pillars of the ESCA, the main lines of actions are:

Prevention: provide skills and knowledge to institutions and citizens to identify, prevent
and respond to violence with particular attention to vulnerable groups such as youth,
migrants and women.

Reinsertion and rehabilitation: stimulate the establishment of mechanisms, procedures

and protocols aimed at rehabilitation and social integration of persons deprived of their
liberty.

Law enforcement: reduce transnational organised crime through, amongst others,

strengthened regional (operational) cooperation.

In addition to supporting the ESCA, actions will be undertaken to:

Promote a culture of peace; attention will be paid to develop a culture supportive of the
rule of law amongst citizens.

Possible expected results:

Prevention:

An increased number of communities implement comprehensive crime prevention

policies.

Decrease of youth committing crime and / or becoming a member of gangs.

Decrease of gender based violence.

Reinsertion and rehabilitation:

Improvement of human rights standards in prison conditions with a special focus on

vulnerable groups such as women and juvenile offenders.

Creation / improvement of rehabilitation and reinsertion programmes, leading to a

reduction of recidivism.

Law enforcement:

19

A sustained reduction of homicides and other crimes (robbery; extortion; money

laundering and others), on the basis of reliable data, statistics and reporting.

Increased number of cases being investigated and brought before justice, hereby
reducing impunity.

Improved regional legal framework and operational cooperation through the

implementation of necessary reforms and the conclusion of operational agreements.

Reduced corruption in state institutions / bodies charged with security and justice.

Culture of peace:

Increased participation of civil society in the decision making and implementation phase
of security and justice related policies.

Improved attention to victims of criminal violence and of acts of human rights violations.

Reduced perception of corruption and hence an increase in citizens reporting crime

taking place / reduction of vigilantism.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in Annex.
3.3

Climate change and disaster management

Indicative allocation EUR 35 million

General objective:
To contribute to building more resilient and sustainable societies through a better preparation of
the region to address climate change.
Specific objective:
Contribute to address climate change and environmental related issues by supporting
the adoption and implementation of adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction
measures and promoting low-emission investments.
Lines of action:

In line with the Regional Climate Change Strategy, promote adaptation to climate
change among the population and socio-economic sectors, particularly in priority areas
such as agriculture, forest eco-systems, biodiversity, water protection and coastal /
marine environments.

Foster the implementation of measures aimed to enhance the mitigation capacity and
low-emission investments, for example in renewable energy sources and energy
efficiency measures.

Contribute to the implementation of relevant regional policies such as the Central

American Policy on Integrated Risk Management (PCGIR) and the Regional Plan on
Disaster Reduction (PRRD).

Possible expected results:

Climate change:

Better environmental governance and mainstreaming of climate change issues in

development planning at regional, national and local level in order to reduce damage
and loss due to climate related hazards.

20

Build institutional capacity for adaptation to climate change in agriculture, considering

specific territorial vulnerabilities (crop production, livestock, fish and aquaculture).

Reduce vulnerability of forest eco-systems, biodiversity, coastal / marine and water

resources, by addressing environmental degradation and stimulating the use of
ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation.

Foster the use of low-emission technologies and access to financial mechanisms

promoting low-emission and climate resilient investments in the region.

Foster greater use of renewable energy sources in regional energy generation grids.

Disaster risk management:

Reinforce the implementation at regional and national level of proper disaster risk
reduction plans.

Strengthen research, data collection and promote information exchange (including early
warning systems) on reducing and managing disaster risk among national and regional
institutions.

Reinforce capacities to take over from humanitarian aid operations attending victims of
large-scale or recurrent disasters.

The main indicators for measuring the aforementioned results are contained in the sector
intervention framework attached in Annex.

II.4 Support measures

The main aim of such measures is capacity building and providing technical assistance in a
more efficient and structured manner. These resources are envisaged to support
communication and visibility activities to raise awareness of EU aid. They can also be directed
to thematic studies and impact assessments of projects, support to formulation of public
policies and policy dialogue, and short-term technical assistance, as well as to support aid
efficiency initiatives such as donor coordination and division of labour.

II.5 Anticipated modalities of delivery

Implementation modalities remain to be determined but could include, among others, direct
management through project approach and indirect management with Member States
agencies, International Organisations or Latin American countries.
Although EU cooperation with Central America and the Caribbean is governed by two separate
legal frameworks and therefore programmed separately, strong geographical, economic,
political and cultural ties between the regions exist, as reflected by the SICA membership of
Belize and Dominican Republic. Wherever relevant, eligibility of the Caribbean countries for
actions falling under the Central America regional programme could be considered (in
accordance with Article 16 of the DCI) and vice-versa. Regional cooperation will be further
fostered by the possibility to engage in multi-country projects, in which at least two of the eight
SICA partner states could participate. Moreover, South-South cooperation between countries in
the region and other Latin American countries will be promoted.

II.6 Complementarity
Ensuring coherence between continental, bilateral and thematic projects is one of the main
challenges of the EU development cooperation projects implemented in the Central American
countries. This is why the EU sub-regional cooperation focuses on areas where it can provide
sufficient added value compared to the bilateral programmes. Contribution of a regional
blending facility, such as the Latin American Investment Facility (LAIF) could be envisaged in
order to facilitate an improved trade related infrastructure for regional integration.
21

Subsidiarity shall be one of the underlying principles during the identification, formulation and
implementation of interventions. Regional interventions should be undertaken if they are
considered to be more effective than the national ones, if they have a leverage effect or if they
are complementary. In all cases, a rigorous articulation between national and regional actions
is required.
In line with the Agenda for Change, the increasingly active role of private sector in
development should be taken into account, both as a main source of finance, and as a partner
to governments and donors. This is something to foster not only through public-private
partnerships (PPPs), but also through more innovative forms of private-public collaboration for
achieving inclusive and sustainable growth.
Regarding the security and rule of law interventions it is crucial to further strengthen the
existing donor coordination mechanism. The Group of Friends of the Central American Strategy
needs to regain momentum, as it remains the right forum to assure coordination and
complementarity between the international partners of Central America.
Synergies will be sought with EU humanitarian interventions in the areas of disaster risk
management, resilience building and security.
The climate change activities at sub-regional should take into account the complementary and
differentiated roles of governments, regional organisations, businesses, and households. The
scope of the sub-regional initiatives should be to facilitate national adaptation forums to share
research, information and experience in adapting to climate change and in promoting lowemission development in different national jurisdictions.
The lines of action under this sector should also take into account the interrelationship between
the environment and human rights, especially regarding the vulnerabilities of specific groups
like women, children, displaced people and indigenous population.
The EU response for this component may be complemented by operations financed by the
European Investment Bank (EIB).

22

III.

INDICATIVE ALLOCATION AND SECTOR BREAKDOWN

DCI REGIONAL ENVELOPE FOR LATIN AMERICA 2014-2020

(indicative amounts, EUR million)

Continental component

805

Security - development nexus

70

Good Governance, Accountability and Social Equity

42

Inclusive and sustainable growth for human development

215

Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change

300

p.m. Erasmus+19

163

Support Measures
Sub-regional Central America component

15
120

Regional Economic Integration

40

Security and the Rule of Law

40

Climate change and disaster management

35

Support Measures
TOTAL

19

5
925

Contribution managed within the Erasmus+ Programme.

23

ANNEX: POSSIBLE TYPES OF INDICATORS BY PRIORITY AREA AND COMPONENT

I. CONTINENTAL COMPONENT
The results, indicators and means of verification indicated in the present annex may need to
evolve to take into account changes intervening during the programming period
Baselines for the indicators below will be introduced in the action document at the latest.
Objective

Result

Indicator

Means of verification
if not mentioned in
indicator

World Bank
Governance indicator:
Control of Corruption

National statistics

Security-Development Nexus
Support the capacity of
states and communities
to:

Public security and fight

against organised
crime:

deliver effective and

accountable security and
justice services to their
citizens, strengthening
the rule of law, including
through support to
reforms in the justice and
security sector and to
crime prevention policies;

Improved legal
framework and service
delivery capacity of the
criminal justice system
and police.

World Justice project

Rule of Law index
(civil justice and
criminal justice subindexes)

Citizen perceptions of
insecurity or impunity,
and regarding the
police and criminal
justice sectors

United Nations
Survey of Crime
Trends and
Operations of
Criminal Justice
Systems
Transparency
International
World Bank
Governance
indicators
UNDP Human
Development report
OAS victimization
survey;

Increased capacity to
monitor crime trends
and to formulate
balanced and evidencebased national security
strategies.

Number/rate of
crimes, in particular
violent crimes
(disaggregated by
type of crime)
Citizen perceptions of
insecurity or impunity,
and regarding the
police and criminal
justice sectors

Reduced impact of illicit

trafficking, money
laundering, corruption

Improvements
measured according
to the indicators as

National statistics

UNDP Human
Development report
OAS victimization
survey
National Data

24

and other organised

crime activities.

mentioned in the
UNODC's World Drug
Report and/or
Organisation of
American States

UNODC data
OAS victimization
survey;

Citizen perceptions of
insecurity or impunity,
and regarding the
police and criminal
justice sectors
Support the capacity of
states and communities
to:
develop integrated,
balanced and human
rights-based national
drug policies covering
both drug demand and
supply reduction efforts
in line with the principle of
co-responsibility; and,

Increased capacity to
monitor drug issues,
and to formulate
integrated, balanced
and evidence-based
drug policies at national
levels;

Number of countries
adopting or improving
national legislation or
policy/strategic
documents that
promote an integrated
(i.e. combining all
aspects of drugs
activities), balanced
(i.e. concentrating
equally on demand
and supply reduction
measures) and
evidence-based (i.e.
drawing on scientific
findings) approach to
drugs in line with the
EU Drugs Strategy
2013-20;]

EU Project and
Programme
monitoring systems

Reduced drug
production, reduced
demand and harm of
drugs and reduced
levels of drug
trafficking;
strengthened action
against illicit financial
flows and money
laundering deriving
from drug trafficking,
increased control of
precursors, enhanced
police cooperation and
overall law enforcement
institutional
strengthening .
Strengthened EUCELAC Coordination

Surface of hectares
destined to coca
production

National statistics

Prevalence of illicit
drug use among the
general population

UNODC drug use

statistics

25

and Cooperation
Mechanism on drugs.
Support the capacity of
states and communities
to:

Improved management
of migration and
borders
Increased knowledge
and capacities:

promote sound migration

management through
facilitation of labour
migration, strengthening
migrants rights, control of
irregular migration and
promotion of the positive
linkages between
migration and
development.

to monitor migration
flows, to manage labour
migration while
ensuring improved
protection of migrants'
rights, as well as to
formulate balanced and
evidence-based
migration policies at
national level;

Number of country
profiles and reports
focussing on
migratory routes and
dynamic published by
Regional
organizations or
partner countries with
EU support

EU Project and
Programme
monitoring systems

Number of countries
adopting international
standards for the
protection of migrant
workers as defined by
the ILO
to reduce flows and
negative impact of
irregular migration and
trafficking in human
beings and increased
positive effects
between migration,
mobility and
development; and,

Number of countries
in which the
productive use (i.e. for
investment purposes)
of remittances has
been on the rise

IOM statistics

to formulate and
implement policies in
the area of integrated
border management,
particular to reduce
illicit activities.

Number of countries
that created or
improved the national
legislation or internal
coordination and
cooperation
mechanisms on
border management
at intra-service, interagency and
international level;

EU Project and
Programme
monitoring systems

Speed of border
checks for goods and
people

Goods (World Bank

Logistical Index
(Customs)
People (EU Project
and Programme
monitoring systems)

26

Cross-cutting:

Cross-cutting:

Human rights
protection, in particular
of vulnerable
populations, and
enhanced adherence to
relevant international
mechanisms.

Citizen perceptions of
insecurity or impunity,
and regarding the
police and criminal
justice sectors

UNDP Human
Development report

Gender equality and

elimination of genderrelated violence.

Number/rate of
crimes, in particular
violent crimes
(disaggregated by
type of crime and
gender)

National Statistics

OAS victimization
survey

Good governance, Accountability and Social Equity

To support fiscal and
public finance
management reforms and
their implementation as a
basis for the state to
provide high quality public
services for social equity.

Fairer and more

transparent fiscal and
public finance
management systems

Tax collection rates of

Latin American
countries compared to
OECD members
average (in particular
in terms of i) structure
of taxation and ii)
trends)

National Statistics,
OECD

(PEFA, WorldBank,
IMF, CEPAL)

UNDP

CEPAL
Better redistribution
effect of tax systems in
LA for reduction of
inequalities

CEPAL

PEFA indicators, on
Comprehensiveness
and transparency PI-5
to PI-10

Human develoment
index

Fiscal system
efficiency
Estimated level of tax
evasion

27

To improve the capacity

of public administrations
to provide public services
in a transparent and
accountable manner.

To strengthen the
legitimacy, transparency
and accountability of
democratic institutions.

Improved governance
and quality of social
spending, with better
regard, inter alia, to
gender equality and
protection of
marginalised groups.

PEFA indicators on
Policy-based
budgeting
(PI-11 and PI-12)

Consolidated state
institutions according to
democratic values and
rules-based
constitutional
frameworks.

Democracy Index

Assessment on
Governance based on
indicators from
ECLAC's SOCIAL
Panorama Latin
America

PEFA

CEPAL

Democracy Index

Inclusive and sustainable growth for human development

Improve the business
environment, promote
economic diversification,
sustainable use of natural
resources, and lowemission economy and
improve integration of
national economies into
regional and international
markets with a focus on
micro, small and mediumsize enterprises
(MSMEs).

Enhanced business
enviroment and policy
framework for
MSMEs

Simplicity of Business
environment (WB Distance
to frontier indicator)

Improved regional
capacity to harness
the benefits of
regional and
international trade
and investment,
including investment
in low-emission
technologies.

Intraregional trade as a %
of total trade

Latin American
economies are more
diversified.

Increase the
productivity and
formalisation of the
private sector,
particularly of
MSMEs, increasing
job opportunities and
decent work,
including in
environment-related
sectors to increase
social cohesion.

Weight of the informal

economy in terms of GDP

Investment framework for

low-emission infrastructure

World Bank

Economic Outlook
for Latin America
CEPAL
CLIMATESCOPE
report for Latin
America and the
Caribbean (IDB
Inter-American
Development
Bank)
World Bank
CEPAL

Informal employment over

total labour force
Firm level productivity of
companies supported by
EU funded programmes
EU Project and
Programme
monitoring systems

28

Improve the quality of

technical education and
employability by better
linking vocational
education and training to
the demands of the
labour market, and
promote decent work.

Skills and
employability of
labour force
strengthened through
pertinent VET
programmes.

% of labour force with

TVET level studies
completed

National statistics

Promote low-emission,
climate resilient and
environmentally
sustainable investments.

Increased
diversification of the
economy, in particular
MSMEs, including by
making use of the
opportunities offered
by low-emission,
climate resilient and
environmentally
sustainable
investments.

Number of MSMEs
applying sustainable
consumption and
production practices with
EU support (Source: Firm
level surveys)

CLIMATESCOPE
report for Latin
America and the
Caribbean (IDB)

ILO

Amount of low-emission
energy investments per
year

Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change

To integrate sustainable
development policies at
national and local level
fostering exchange and
cooperation on
environmental and
climate change-related
challenges

To promote a more
climate-resilient and
environmentally
sustainable development
in Latin America in
particular to the benefit of
the most vulnerable
populations

Sustainable
development public
policies are
strengthened, taking
biodiversity,
ecosystem services
and disaster risk
management into
account, resulting in
low-emission, climate
resilient and
environmentally
sustainable
investments, higher
territorial cohesion
and reduced
vulnerability
Regional networks
are strengthened to
create knowledge and
to share experience,
through inter alia,
peer learning and
exchanges of best
practices
The capacity of LA
countries to mitigate
and to adapt to
climate change are
reinforced, including
by reducing
vulnerability to climate
stress, scaling-up of
climate-smart

Number of countries with

legislations, regulations,
strategies, action plans in
force related to sustainable
development, climate
change - including
greenhouse gas emissions
reduction , environment
and natural resources
management

Ministries of
Environment

Electricity production from

renewable sources (MWh)

CEPAL

Number of hectares of
protected areas

National
Statistics
Ministries of
Finance and
Planning

ACTO, SICACCAD
IUCN

State of global biodiversity

loss.

Number of watersheds with

integrated water resources
management

Global
Biodiversity
Outlook
Convention on
Biological
Diversity /
UNEP

CIAT, CATIE,
CAZALAC
National
statistics

Proportion of population
having access to better
drinking water source

PAHO

29

practices to diminish
Green House Gas
emissions,
strengthening
production of
environmental
statistics and
accounts, improving
disaster risk
management and
sustainable
management of
natural resources and
ecosystems, in
particular water,
forests and
agriculture, and
sustainable
development of
highly-populated
areas

Reduction of the rate of gross

tropical deforestation

ACTO, SICACCAD
IUCN

Number of farmers adopting

sustainable agriculture
practices

FAO
IICA

30

II. CA SUB-REGIONAL PROGRAMME

The results, indicators and means of verification specified in the present annex may need to
evolve to take into account changes intervening during the programming period.
Objective

Result

Indicator

Means of verification if
not mentioned in
indicator

R1.
Policy
and
regulation
Enhanced institutional
capacity of regional
authorities such as
SICA* system, thinktanks,
research
institutes, and other
organisations
for
sustainable
regional
economic
integration
policy formulation and
implementation

Number
of
consultations
on
regional
economic
issues
between
regional
institutions
and private sector
representatives

Meeting minutes from

SIECA** and CCIE***

R2. Investment and

export promotion
Investment and export
promotion
initiatives
supported both from
intra-regional and EUCentral
America
perspectives, with a
special
focus
on
MSMEs.
R3. Building
productive capacities
and sustainable
regional value chains

Number of meetings
held between
concerned regional
institutions and
stakeholders on
investments and
exports promotion

Meeting minutes and

reports from private
sector and national
agencies
of
investment and export
promotion

Number of SMEs
receiving
technical
assistance

Technical assistance
and donor reports Statistics from
CENPROMYPE
(SICA)

Sector 1: Regional economic integration

Specific objective 1:
Reducing the regional
constraints to
competitiveness,
diversification and
investments in Central
America, including by
supporting regional
institutions' (namely
SIECA) economic
integration processes and
reforms

Number
of
consultations
on
regional
economic
issues
between
regional
institutions
and civil society, think
tanks and/or research
institutes
representatives.

Meeting minutes from

SIECA CCIE
CSUCA**** and CSOs

A
more
integrated
regional market through
sustainable
value
chains, in particular of
MSMEs
and
cooperatives
of
increased productivity
and
competitiveness;
as well as increased
and more diversified
export
opportunities,
allowing CA countries

31

to fully benefit from the

AA implementation
* Central American Integration System
** Secretary General for Economic integration
** *Consultative Committee on Economic Integration
****Supreme Council of Central American universities

Specific objective 2:
Maximising the benefits
for Central America's
population of the
implementation of the
economic components of
the EU-CA Association
Agreement

R1.
Policy
regulation

and

Increased economic
and regulatory
convergence in fields
like customs, SPS,
technical regulations,
and others prioritised
as per common
agreement in view of
maximizing the benefits
for Central American
countries as a result of
the AA implementation

R2.
Policy and
regulation
Improved trade-related
labour and environment
compliance, in line with
international
commitments and the
AA

Number of common
customs procedures
approved

Resolutions approved
by
COMIECO

SIECA

Number of technical
regulations and
instruments related to
SPS* and quality
finalised

Resolutions approved
by
COMIECO

SIECA

Number of technical
regulations and
instruments related to
SPS and quality
implemented

Resolutions approved
by
COMIECO

SIECA

Quality is referred
here to trade
international standard
compliance of
products
Changes to
regulatory framework
at national and/or
regional level, number
of solved cases on
trade-related labour
and environment
issues, number of
cases of intra and
extra regional
cooperation

Monitoring bodies'
reports.
Reports of the EU
Central America
Board on Trade and
Sustainable
Development

*Sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures

32

Sector 2: Security and rule of law

Specific objectives 1
and 2 (inter-linked):
1.Reinforce the capacity
of the region to decrease
transnational crime and
2. improve capacities to
deliver effective and
accountable security and
justice services to the
population

R1. Prevention
An increased number
of communities
implement
comprehensive crime
prevention policies
Decrease of youth
committing crime and /
or becoming a member
of gangs

Number of persons
trained and
participating in
building peace and
prevention strategies
Number of legislative
initiatives promoting
gender equality and
tackling genderrelated violence

Decrease of gender
violence
R2. Reinsertion and
rehabilitation
Improvement of
human rights standards
in prison conditions with
a special focus on
vulnerable groups such
as women and juvenile
offenders
Creation /
improvement of
rehabilitation and
reinsertion
programmes, leading to
a reduction of
recidivism.

Number of
rehabilitation
programs, per country
& regional
Number of offenders
benefitting from
rehabilitation and
reinsertion measures,
per country & regional

EU projects

SICA
information
systems & statistics
National/Regional
legal
acts
and
statistics

EU projects
SICA statistics
National/Regional
statistics

Number of offenders
receiving alternative
sanctions to prison
court rulings per
country & regional
Recidivism rate per
Central America
country & regional

R3. Law enforcement

A sustained reduction
of homicides and other
crimes (robbery;
extortion; money
laundering and others),
on the basis of reliable
data, statistics and
reporting.
Increased number of
cases being
investigated and
brought before justice,
hereby reducing
impunity.
Improved regional
legal framework and
operational cooperation
through the
implementation of
necessary reforms and

Number of cases of
strategic and
operational
information exchange,
mutual legal
assistance, extradition
and other forms of
international police
and judicial
cooperation, including
joint investigation
teams

EU projects
SICA information
systems &statistics
National/Regional
statistics
Regional
surveys/polls
National/Regional
legal acts

Number of regionally
harmonized crime
statistics/reports
Public perception of
insecurity
Public perception of
impunity

33

the conclusion of
operational
agreements.
Reduced corruption in
state institutions /
bodies charged with
security and justice.
R4. Culture of peace
Increased participation
of civil society in the
decision making and
implementation phase
of security and justice
related policies
Improved attention to
victims of criminal
violence and of acts of
human rights violations.

Number of cases
investigated by law
enforcement
agencies, prosecuted
and ruled

% of citizens
reporting a crime per
country & regional
Number of victims
receiving assistance
to victims for human
rights violations
Corruption
perception index per
country & regional

National/Regional
statistics
Transparency
International
SICA
information
systems & statistics
EU projects

Reduced perception
of corruption and hence
an increase in citizens
reporting crime taking
place / reduction of
vigilantism.
Sector 3: Climate change and disaster management
Specific objective 1:
Contribute to address
climate
change
and
environmental
related
issues by supporting the
adoption
and
implementation
of
adaptation, mitigation and
disaster risk reduction
measures and promoting
low-emission investments

R1. Better
environmental
governance and
mainstreaming of
climate change issues
in development
planning at regional,
national and local level
in order to reduce
damage and loss due
to climate related
hazards.

Number of
new/updated regional
commitments on
sustainable
management of
natural resources.

SG
SICA**
information systems

R2. Build institutional

capacity for adaptation
to climate change in
agriculture, considering
specific territorial
vulnerabilities (crop
production, livestock,
fish and aquaculture).

Number of
country/regional
climate change
strategies developed

EU projects

R3. Reduce
vulnerability of forest
eco-systems,
biodiversity, coastal /
marine and water

Number/level of fish
stocks in coastal
zones under the
influence of El Nio
Southern Oscillation

Number of
country/regional
climate change
strategies
implemented

SG SICA information
systems

EU projects
OSPESCA****
information systems
SG SICA information

34

resources, by
addressing
environmental
degradation and
stimulating the use of
ecosystem-based
approaches to climate
change adaptation.

R4. Foster the use of

low-emission
technologies and
access to financial
mechanisms promoting
low-emission and
climate resilient
investments in the
region.

(ENSO) phenomenon.

systems

Forest surface,
located around
international border
areas, subject to
community-based
protection ,
maintenance and
management
SG SICA information
systems
Amount of lowemission investments
per year

CLIMATESCOPE
report for Latin
America and the
Caribbean (IDB)

R5. Foster greater use

of renewable energy
sources in regional
energy generation
grids.

Number of regional
energy generation
grids built during
2014-2020

SG SICA information
systems

R6. Reinforce the

implementation at
regional and national
level of proper disaster
risk reduction plans.

Level of disaster
management
coordination at
regional level in CA*
countries.

CEPREDENAC
information systems

CLIMATESCOPE
report for Latin
America and the
Caribbean (IDB)

Milestones 1:
coordination plan
drafted
Milestone 2:
coordination plan
implemented
R7. Strengthen
research, data
collection and promote
information exchange
(including early warning
systems) on reducing
and managing disaster
risk among national and
regional institutions.

Number of CA
countries with updated
disaster management
coordination
networking.

R8. Reinforce
capacities to take over
from humanitarian aid
operations attending

Number of CA
countries where
disaster early warning
systems are in place

CEPREDENAC
information systems

Number of regional
DRR*** plans for
vulnerable coastal
cities due to climate
change
CCAD
systems

information

35

victims of large-scale or
recurrent disasters.

at intra-regional level.

EU projects

* Central America
** Secretary General of Central American Integration System
***Disaster Risk Reduction
**** Central America Fisheries and Aquaculture Organization

The results, indicators and means of verification specified in the present annex may need to
evolve to take into account changes intervening during the programming period.

***

36